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(Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1. A. G. HOVDE.

STRIKING TRAIN FOR CLOCKS.

N0. 316,364. Patented ApIf. Z1, 1885.

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(Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

A. G. HOVDE.

y STRIKING TRAIN FOR CLOCKS. No. 316,364. Patented Apr. .21. 1885.

UNITED STATES PATENT @Er-reno ANDREAS GULBRANDSEN HOVDE, OF HNEFOS, NORVAY.

STRlKlNG-TRAIN FOR CLOCKS.

SPECIFICATION tol-ming part of Letters Patent. No. 316,364. dated April 21, 1835.

Application filed l\'o\'einber15,13$3. (Model.)

To all wil/0771, t may concern.-

Be it known that I, ANDREAS GULBRAND- SEN HOVDE, of Hnefos, Norway, have invented certain new and uset`ul Improvements in Striking-Trains for Clocks, (for which I obtained apatent in Germany. numbered 26,886,

dated August 7, 1883,) and l do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description ol' the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to an improvement in clocks, the object being to provide a` strikingtrain which shall be adjustable to all kinds of clocks, and shall be of more simple construction than those hitherto known.

With these ends in view my invention consists, first, in such an arrangement ot' the striking-train and center arbor with respect to each other that the former is wound up by means of one of the wheels ofthe latter-viz.,

by means of the same motive power (springs, weights, or other arrangements) which sets the hands in motionthereby dispensing` with a whole series of wheels and other mechanism; secondly, in a new mechanism for the striking-strain, which not only reduces the loss of power occasioned by doing away with theindependent striking-train to a minimum, but also gains an important amount ot' power, and is more simple in structure than those hitherto made; thirdly, in such an arrangement ofthe striking-train mechanism that the work performed by the winding-up part of the same is equally divided throughout the whole day; and,fourthly, in a striking-train so constructed as to afford economy in space.

Myinvention further consists in certain features ofI construction and combinations ol parta-as will be more fully described, and pointed out in theclaims.

ln the accompanying` drawings, Figure l is a front View in elevation of the strikingtrain and the actuating` mechanism immediately connected therewith.v Fig. l is a l'ront View in elevation ot' the striking-train and a portion ofthe center arbor embodying my invention. Figs. l" and lo are enlarged views of parts of same. Fig. l1 represents the position oi' the wheels when the clock is about to strike one. Figs. Tand 2 represent a modiiication, and Figs. 3, 3b, and 3C represent a Patented in Germany August 7, lt'till, No. 26,1486.

second modification; and Fig. fl is a view in sdie elevation of' wheel r and adjacent parts.

The striking-train consists, essentially, of Ithree principal parts-iirst, the winding mechanism; second, the movement, and, third, the regulating mechanism.

The striking-train represented in Fig. l is wound up by means of the pinion Z mounted on the axle ol" the center wheel. The pinion Z, which makes one revolution every hour, engages .the teeth of the wheel o', actuated toward the right b v a spring, fri, (represented by dotted lines in Fig. l,) and iurns it to the left. rlhe pinion Z is a mutilated fourteentoothed wheel, a space of two adjacent teeth being vacant. The spring-actuated wheel r is therefore turned thirteen teeth for every complete revolution of the pinion Z. Since, however, the pinionl makes one revolution every hour, the recess caused by the absence ot' the two teeth will face the spring-actuated wheel r every hour, and this wheel '1' being now disengaged is permitted to recede to the right, which it does. owing to the spring or weight connected with its axle.

The movement comprises the hammer b, mounted on the hammer-axle a, balanced by a counter-weight, b', and continuously drawn to the right'against the pin o by means ot a very delicate spring, 0. Furthermore, the small pinion d. provided with two inclined teeth, el and di, is loosely mounted on the ham mer-axle and pressed by means ot' asmall spring, it', against the pin or notch s on the disk s. This disk s is firmly iixed on theaxlea.

h is the escapement-lever, pivotcd at its lower end, and provided with the two branches It2 and It and a notch or leaf, h. k is the bell.

In the position represented by Fig. l the hammer has just struck, and the small lug 82, at the lower part ofthe disk s, hasjust come in contact with the branch h3, by which the escapement-lever has been pressed to lhelel't, disengaging the leaf h and thereby the wheel r. The wheel r now engages the tooth di ot' the pinion d, and thereby turns the hammer-axle and hammertothelel't. Il', now, the wheel yr continues to turn to the right, it will engage the tooth d ol" the pinion d. rEhe lug c will now press against the branch if, which causes the leat' /L to engage the tooth r of the wheel r. This causes the arrest of the spring-actuated wheel r in the position required to allow the teeth al andA d2 of the pinion d to pass between the teeth of the wheel r back to the position which they occupied when the tooth d2 of the pinion d was engaged by the wheel r. Owing to the impetus received from the spring-wheel o', the hammer first swings to the left as far as the spring at its axleallows, or until the lug s2 engages the branch h2, which allows the hammer to swing to the right and strike the bell. The lug s2 again disengages the escapement and another stroke follows in the same manner, as just described. The striking will continue until the springactuated wheel r is arrested by the regulating mechanism, which will he hereinafter described. The pinion d is loosely mounted on the hammer-axle a, to allow the teeth of the wheel 1' to pass when it is wound up. The pinion d consequently works similar to a ratchet, and may be arranged in a similar manner, as hereinafter set forth.

It will be observed that in the movement above described one stroke on the bell corresponds to two teeth on the spring-actuated wheel o'. The regulating of the striking-train is accomplished as follows: Fig. 1 represents the position of the mechanism after the clock has just struck twelve. The lever f, pivoted at one end, rests with the tooth f2 on the highest point of the heart-wheel m. This heartwheel m is mounted on the axle of the center wheel, and by means of suitable gear (not shown) is caused to make one revolution every twelve hours. The tooth f', on the left end of the lever f, presses against the step XII ofthe snail a. The snail a is secured to the spring-actuated wheel r, and is provided with six more steps, XI to VI, inclusive, which are so arranged with reference to the heartwheel that after one-twelfth of a rotation of the heart-wheel, corresponding to one hour, the endf has descended one step, or during the second half of the rotation has ascended one step on the snail a. During the first hour the wheel r is turned a distance of thirteen teeth to the left by the pinion Z, mounted on the center wheel-axle and making one revolution every hour. At the same time the tooth f2 descends so much that j" occupies the same height as step XI, as shown in Fig. l, and as the distance from step XII to step XI corresponds to the distance of eleven teeth of the wheel r, it will be seen that the wheel r, being now disengaged, is permitted to rotate to the right a distance of two teeth only. The clock, therefore, will strike one. As the distances between the following steps of the snai-l a correspond to 9, 7, 5, 3, and 1 teeth of the spring-actuated wheel, and as the snail is so arranged that j at the end of each succeeding hour shall rest at the height of the notches XI X IX VIII VII VI in the declining order during the first half-revolution of the heartwheel and in the reverse or ascending order during the second half-revolution ofthe heartrevolution each hour or for each step on the snail, thereby turning the wheel r thirteen teeth to the left, the wheel r, when disengaged at l[he end of each hour, will be allowed to turn to the right the number of teeth corresponding to the difference between 13 and 9:4, 13 and 7:6. 13 and 5:3, 13 and 3:10,`13 and 1:12, 13 and-1:14, 13 and-3:16, 13 and-5:13, 13 and 7:20, 13 and 9:22, 13 and-11:24, and as one stroke of the hammer corresponds t-o two teeth on the wheel r the clock will strike two, three, four, live, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, and twelve, respectively.

From the above it will be seen that from twelve to six o clock the spring actuated wheel r is rotated to the left 13X (5:78 teeth, while the regulating mechanism of the striking train has allowed the wheel r to turn to the right only 2 -l- 4 -l 6 -l- S 10 -l- 12:42 teeth. There is therefore a gain to the leit of thirty-six teeth. During the time from six to twelve oclock, however, the wheel o' has again been turned 13 6:78 teeth to the left; but the striking mechanism has during this time allowed the wheel 1- to turn li-i-lG-l-lS-l- 20+22-l-24:114 teeth to the right, a gain to the right of thirty-six teeth, which leaves the wheel r in the position it was in at first.

The number of teeth on the wheel o* is immaterial for striking the hour 5 but for the sake of details of construction as regards the arrangement ofthe steps on the snail a it is desirable that the wheel r should have at least 11+ 9-l-7-l-5-{-3+1:36 teeth.

To prevent an excessive tension ofthe spring of the spring-actuated wheel r when the hands are forcibly turned, itis judicious to limit the amount to which the spring may be wound up. This is done by diminishing the thickness ot' two ofthe teeth ofthe spring-actuated wheel, or by bending them out of the plane of the wheel in such a manner that while they will engage the teeth of the pinion d and-turn the hammer they will not engage the teeth. of the pinion Z. In this case, however, the wheel 1' must have at least fifty-one teeth to admit the thirty-six teeth gained to the left from twelve to six oclock plus the thirteen which it is turned to the left from six to seven oclock plus the two mutilated teeth.

In the arrangement above described the work ofwinding np is equally divided throughout the twelve hours, as far as the turning of the wheel r 13 teeth to the left is concerned, but the tension of the spring ofthe wheel r is somewhat increased during the time from twelve to six oclock, while it decreases the same amount from six to twelve oclock.

The pinion d, instead of having two teeth, as above described, may have but one, and the pinion Z will now be provided with seven instead of fourteen teeth. In this arrangement one stroke of the hammer corresponds to one tooth of the spring-wheel; but to compensate for the gain to the left in this case during wheel, and as the pinion Z makes a complete the time from twelve to six oclock, it is neces- IOO sary to allow the spring-wheel to turn a little too much to theright every second hour, which is not practical.

The striking-train represented in Figs. 2a and 2" is in many respects so similar to that above described that a detailed description is unnecessary. The differences in the two arrangements are as follows: The spring-actuated wheel r in this case is a toothed sector, and turns one tooth to the right at every stroke of the hammer; hence the pinion d in this case isprovided with but onetooth. IIhetoothed sector ris continually turned back to thelei't to the same position,whether one or more teeth have been used during the striking, for the pinion Zwill turn the sector fr back thirteen teeth every hour if it is allowed to engage it, while the sector r can turn to the right only twelve teeth at most at the end of an hour. The rcsult is that the pinion Z engages the sector r uselessly after the last tooth of the sector to the right has come in contact with the pinion Z until the toothless part of the pinion Z is reached,when the sector fr is allowed to turn to the right and the striking` begins. rIhe escapeinent-lever h is here arranged horizontally, and generally rests, owing to its weight,

on the pin h4. The lever Zt has now but one branch, h3, against which the tooth s2 presses, its purpose being to disengage the wheel r immediately before the striking begins in the same manner as explained before. The position of the striking-train represented by these Figs. 2L and 2 is as follows: The clock has ljust struck two, and the T-shaped stopper r2,

fixed on the axle ofthe sector r, rests with the end r3 against the pin Il of the `snail @amounted on the axle of the twelve-hour wheel of the center arbor. rIhis snail is similar in principle to that before described, but in this case it is somewhat differently arranged for the sake of giving space. The steps are here arranged in two groups, one consisting of the pins I to VI, inclusive, and the other of the steps or notches VII to XII, inclusive. The first group corresponds to the hours one to six, inclusive, and the second ygroup to the hours seven to twelve, inclusive. The tirst group comes in contact with the end r3 of the T-shaped. stopper r2, and the second group with the nose r* at the other end of the head of the stopper r2. In this case the snail n .must be so arranged with reference to the T- shaped stopper r that when the sector r has been turned to the left by the pinion Z as far as possible, and the pinion Z has made a revolution and presented its toothless section to the sector r, and the snail has completed onetwelfth of a revolution, the sector r will now be allowed to turn to the right a distance of three teeth before the end r3 of the stopper r2 comes in contact with the pin III, and hence the clock will strike three. In the strikingtrain just described, however, an equal division of the work of winding up, as described in the first arrangement, is not obtained, but this second arrangement is more simple and I from the bell ready for another stroke.

more serviceable for many kinds of clocks. Arrangements iirst and second have this advantage in common: The striking-train is not disait-ranged when the hands are forcibly turned-that is, the striking-train remains in accordance with the time-train.

Fig. 3 represents a rear View of the striking-train in the second modiiication,and Figs. 3l and 3 plan views of portions of same. In this case the spring-actuated wheel r and the pinion Z iixed to the same are loosely mounted on the axle j), and connected with said axle by a spiral spring. A wheeLpreferably provided with twice as many teeth as the center wheel and gearing with the center wheel,is mounted fixedly on the axle p. The axle p will therefore make six revolutions as often as the center wheel makes twelve--viz., every twelve hours. rlhe wheel r is now provided with thirteen teeth, and the striking-train so arranged that one stroke of the hammer correspends to one tooth of the spring-actuated wheel. The wheel r will therefore makejust six revolutions to the right-Viz., seventyeight*the number of strokes the hammer makes during twelve hours, dividedby thirteen, the number of teeth on its circumference or number of strokes corresponding to one rovolution. Thus the spiral spring which fastens the wheel r to the axle p receives a tension by the six revolutions of the axle p to the left sufficient to turn the wheel rsix revolutions to the right, and hence gives the required number ot' strokes. Furthermore, in this case, as in the first, an equal division ot' the work otI windirg up is obtained. To prevent an over-winding of the spiral spring by forcibly turning the hands, it might be advisable to tix the axle end ofthe spring in the spring-box by friction only. The movement of the striking-train in this case is substantially the same as that shown in the iirst, with such modifications, however, as are required in consequence ot' the vertical position of the hammer-axle. For the same reason the teeth on the wheel o' are modified in form, as represented in Figs. 3 and 3C. 'Ihe escapementlever h is here represented as resting, owing toits weight, on the iixed pin ZL, and holds the wheel r from turning to the right by pressing against that tooth of the wheel r which is just on the point ot' turning to the right the tooth CZ of the pinion (Z. rlhe pinion d is here mounted iixedly on the hammer-axle c, and hence the axle is turned to the right and the hammer Z) lifted from the bell whenever the pinion (Z is turned. In the position here represented the hammer hasjnst struck, and the escapement-lever h has been disengaged by the tooth cZ in a manner similar to that before described. The wheel r now turns to the right7 engages the tooth cZ, turns the pinion d, disengages the lever It, and lifts the hammer The number of strokes is regulated in this case by the wellknown circular plate t', which here turns on a loose sleeve on the axle of the cen- IOO ter wheel. This circular plate is, as usual, provided with a division-rim, having teeth of diilerent breadth and situated at different intervals, adapted to engage the tooth c of the stopper-lever o, and this circular plate i is further provided with a rim having teeth adapted to engage with the teeth on the pinion Ythe lever c C', pivoted at c2, causing the trian- -gular tooth c3 on the arm c ofthe lever c c' to press upward in the recess of the disk a, thereby removing the tooth et of the stopper-lever o from said recess and pin v from the interval on the division-rim, whereby the circular plate is free to turn. By this operation the striking-train receives only a start sufficient to place the tooth o2 on the disk a, while the hammer is still held in position by .the triangular tooth cii on the branch c of the lever c c. The hammer is disengaged only when the tooth t passes the branch c of the lever c c. The moment this takes place the striking begins and continues until the tooth o on the stopper c again drops into one of the intervals of the division-rim, and thus allows the -tooth o2 to engage the recess of the disk a.

-rions combinations of the details above described, other ar 1angements ofstriking-trains may be constructed, In the arrangements shown by Figs. l and 2 the hammer-axle may be arranged in a vertical position, while in the arrangement shown in Fig. SLa horizontal hammer-axle may be employed without requiring important modifications in construction.

The mechanism of the movement may also be arranged with various other combinations without departing from the spirit of my invention. Again, the winding-up mechanism may be arranged similar to a ratchet-drill, (ratchet-wheel and pawh) the crank of which may be raised and lowered by means of an eccentric on the wheel-axle.

The spring ofthe hammer-axle should have the strength of a balance-spring of an ordinary watch. It is sufficient if' the spring of g the spring-actuated wheel r has a rigidity equivalent to that of two or three such balance-springs; hence it is clear that the power required for the tension of the same, especially if' the work of winding` up is equally divided, is so insignificant that the loss of power in the spring or weight of the time-train used for this purpose has no influence on the movement ot' the clock. In fact, the resistance caused by the striking-train is so small that even watches may be provided with this arrangement, in which case, however, springs of' corresponding strength must be used in all instances to produce the effect obtained by means of gravity in the above described arrangements.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. In a clock, the combination, with a timetrain, of a striking-train located to one side of the central arbor or axle and in gear with a wheel on said arbor, whereby the strikingtrain is wound up.

2. In a clock, astriking-traiu wound by the actuating-power of the time-train, the said striking-train located to one side ot' the center axle or arbor and consisting of a winding-np mechanism composed of a pinion and springactuated wheel, a movement mechanism composed of aspring-actuated hammer, a ratchetwheel, and escapement-lever, and a regulating mechanism composed of a snail-wheel, a stopper, and a wheel for regulating said stopper, substantially as set forth.

3. In a clock, the combination, with the time-train, of a striking mechanism wound by the actuating-power ot' the time-train, consisting of a mutilated pinion, a spring-actuated toothed wheel, an eseapement-lever in connection with a disk and ratchet-wheel mounted on a hammer-axle, and said spring-actuated wheel, and a stopper in connection with a snail or other shaped wheel, substantially as set forth.

4. In a clock, the combination, with the time-train, of a striking-train, wound by the actuating-power ofthe time-train, consisting ot' a mutilated pinion mounted on the center arbor and adapted to engage and release hourly a spring actuated wheel, a springactuated wheel adapted tostore up and expend hourly a force sufficient to produce the required number of strokes, a snail-shaped wheel adapted to engage a stopper at required intervals, an escapement-lever adapted to eugage a disk and said spring-actuated wheel, a ratchet adapted to allow said sp ring-actuated wheel to turn in one direction without engaging it and to engage it when it turns in the other direction, and a stopper adapted to arrest the motion ot' said spring-actuated wheel at required intervals, substantially as set forth.

5. In a clock, the combination of a toothed pinion mounted on the center arbor` said pinion adapted to engage a toothed spring-actuated wheel, a heart-wheel mounted on the center arbor and adapted to hold a stopper-lever at required elevations, a toothed spring-actuated wheel provided with a snail attachment,

IOO

IIO

said springactuated Wheel adapted to be wound up by said pinion, and said snail attachment adapted to engage said stopper-lever at required intervals, an axle provided with a balanced hammer and circular disk, both mounted irmly thereon, a toothed pinion mounted loosely on said axle and loosely attached to said disk, an escapement-lever provided with a leaf and adapted to engage said disk and said spring-actuated Wheel, and a stopper-lever, the Whole constructed and arranged for the purpose substantially as set forth.

6. In a striking-train for clocks, the combination of a springactuated hammer, a ratchet and escapement-lever adapted to arrest and release the movement of a springactuated Wheel, a spring-actuated Wheel adapted to store up and expend a sui'licient amount of force to produce the required number of strokes, a Wheel and lever combinedly adapted to regulate the number of strokes, and a pinion located on the center arbor, adapted to Wind up and release said spring-actuated Wheel at regular intervals, the Whole constructed, arranged, and adapted to be Wound by the actuating-power of the timetrain, sub` stantially as set forth.

7. In a striking-train for clocks, the combination, with the motive mechanism of the time-train, of a spring-actuated Wheel forming` a part of the striking-train, and located to one side of the center axle or arbor, and constructed and arranged to be Wound up by said motive power the same amount each hour, and to reserve a sufficient force the iirst six hours to balance the required expenditure of force the second six hours, substantially as set forth.

8. In a striking-train for clocks,the combination, with the motive-power mechanism ofthe time-train, of a mutilated pinion actuated by said motive power, constructed and arranged to engage a spring-actuated Wheel forming,` a part of the striking-train, thereby Winding up and releasing said spring-actuated wheel at regular intervals, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed this speciiication in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ANDREAS GULBRANDSEN HOVDE.

Vitnesses:

F. BLEHR, V. WHNLUYDER. 

